UK government spends £ 4.4 billion to prepare for Brexit

US, WASHINGTON (NEWS OBSERVATORY) — The UK government has spent at least 4.4 billion pounds ($ 5.6 billion) from taxpayers in preparation for leaving the European Union, reports Reuters, citing the National Audit Office (NAO).

According to the NAO, most of the money was spent on staff costs, building new infrastructure, and paying for external consultations.

A total of 1.9 billion pounds was spent on paying civil servants, 1.5 billion on new infrastructure and 288 million pounds on external consultations.

Although some ministries had to supplement their expenses from existing budgets, the government as a whole spent only about 70% of the 6.3 billion pounds allocated to prepare for Brexit.

The NAO notes that these estimates focus only on the cost of government preparations and do not take into account future costs, such as paying the EU 39 billion pounds for Brexit.

Great Britain left the block on January 31 . During the period following the 11-month transitional period, the parties must agree on their future relationship.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously stated that the transition period should come to an end on December 31, regardless of whether London reached an agreement with Brussels on trade before the end of the year.